Pittsfield Officials Warn of Malfunctioning Light at North, Linden
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The traffic light at the intersection of Linden and North streets has been flashing yellow signals since Monday.
And it will take the manufacturer of the traffic light to fix the issue.
"It doesn't happen often that we have to call the manufacturer," Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales said.
Morales is urging motorists to treat the flashing light as a stop sign — stop at the intersection and when it is safe to go, to proceed with caution.
The city has three steps of troubleshooting these types of issues. First there were attempts to fix the light before calling a called a contractor onto the site. The contractor was able to isolate some issues and rule out potential causes for the flashing, but ultimately could not get it fixed. Then the manufacturer was called.
"It's a bit unusual," Morales said. "[Contractors] are pretty well versed in what they do, so when that happened that's when we called the manufacturer and had them scheduled to come in and basically they fabricate that piece of equipment so they can do a deep dive into and fix the problem."
As of right now, Morales plans to have the manufacturer arrive on the scene Wednesday and, hopefully, have the light fixed within a few hours. For the duration of the repairs, there will be a police detail to direct traffic.
Witnesses reported a small accident between two trucks around 3:30 p.m. at that intersection. Those involved were able to pull into the parking lot behind Rent A Center to get out of traffic and exchange information. Police reported there was no major damage and no one was injured.
At the same time, Pittsfield is in the midst of a snowstorm that expects to accumulate up to 6 inches, causing slippery roads and reduced visibility. Because of this, drivers should proceed with extra precaution.
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